Mental health has been in the news more than ever before, with NBC’s Today Show recently reporting that Americans are now taking more prescriptions than ever -- 5 million prescription per year for sleep aid and 18 million antidepressants prescribed annually. Certainly, medication is needed and necessary in many cases; however, best treatment often involves a combination of medication and therapy to build coping skills and prevent relapse. Read below to start putting tools in your mental health toolbox. ---Jennifer and YolandaNuts and Bolts: By and large, anxiety and depression are the biggest complaints for Americans with mental health symptoms. Symptoms of depression can include feeling “down in the dumps”, losing motivation, not finding joy in the things you once found pleasurable, a desire to isolate oneself from others, unexplained aches and pains, and changes in eating and/or sleeping patterns. Symptoms of anxiety can include constant worry, with an inability to “turn the mind off”, feeling jittery, and often include physical symptoms of a racing heart, tightness in the chest, sweaty hands, and panic attacks. Sound all too familiar? Here are some tools to help create healthy habits to combat anxiety and depression.· Check your body. One of the first things mental health professionals do is check to make sure you’re up-to-date with your medical exams. Why? Sometimes physical illness, like hyperthyroidism or hypothyroidism, can cause mental health symptoms like anxiety or depression. If you’re behind on your check-up, call your doctor today!· Recognize negative thoughts. Often, depression involves negative thoughts we have about the past and anxiety involves negative thoughts about the future. Since these thoughts are usually automatic, it takes some work to become aware of them and shift to more realistic thinking. Because negative thinking can taint the way we see positive steps to healthy change, we will address negative “red flags” to be aware of in our following tips.· Move your body. Exercise releases endorphins, natural “feel good” chemicals into the body. Red Flag: Instead of thinking that a workout routine must involve going to the gym and devoting 1.5 hours to high-intensity cardio, realize that even 10-20 minutes walking is a step in the right direction.· Feed your body. Eating healthy foods can help improve your mood, but what happens if you fall off your diet wagon (Red Flag!)? Acknowledge that you could have made a healthier choice and move on! Don’t let one slip up affect days and weeks of healthy eating choices to come.· Feed your soul/Rest your mind. Prayer, mindfulness, and meditation are all ways of learning how to quiet the mind. However, these things take practice, so don’t set yourself up for frustration by thinking you’ll meditate for an hour on your first try (Red Flag!). Start with 5-10 minutes. Life Renewal Counseling’s mindfulness audios are a good way to start. Find them at http://www.liferenewalcounseling.org/mindfulness.html· Rest your body. Both anxiety and depression can affect sleep. Red Flag: don’t fall into negative thinking that you’ll never get a full night’s sleep again after having a few bad nights. Be sure to practice good sleep hygiene. Choose one sleep tip you can try and do that. (You can find sleep tips here: http://www.icontact-archive.com/n2AtNkyfFH7O1mehzuRkFMZPiRpu7poB?w=3). Be aware that new habits can take about a month to become a part of a new lifestyle, and managing negative thoughts plus incorporating several healthy habits can sometimes feel overwhelming. That’s where Life Renewal can help. Give us a call today to take your first step towards positive, healthy change!----Jennifer & Yolanda

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Authors

The author of Life Renewal Counseling's Blog is Jennifer Street, LCSW. Earlier posts are credited to our former counselor, Yolanda Harper, LCSW. For more information on Jennifer please visit the "About Us" section of our website.